Portland Art Tax - Thoughts?

[scfr]

Portland has initiated an annual voter-approved "Arts Tax" of $35.

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2013/03/post_311.html

The sentences I find most amusing are "Though voters approved the $35-a-person tax by a wide margin, reminders that residents have to hand over the cash by April 15 are catching some off-guard. Others are angry to discover they're not exempt."

Guess they thought someone else was going to pay for it, huh?
I hope that all the folks pissed off about having to pay it voted AGAINST it.

I kind of like this concept. Here in Austin, in recent years it seems that almost all ballot measures are approved. I have found myself shaking my head thinking "where do you people think the money is going to come from to pay for this?" Perhaps it's because most taxes go in to a general "pool" so it takes a lot of research to find out exactly where your tax dollars are going. Or perhaps it's because people don't realize that even tho they don't own a home, they are still paying property taxes indirectly when they pay rent. Or perhaps people assume "someone in a higher tax bracket should pay my share."

I like the idea of a "You wanted this? OK, here's your bill for it" approach!

[Robert742]

Portland has initiated an annual voter-approved "Arts Tax" of $35.

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2013/03/post_311.html

The sentences I find most amusing are "Though voters approved the $35-a-person tax by a wide margin, reminders that residents have to hand over the cash by April 15 are catching some off-guard. Others are angry to discover they're not exempt."

Guess they thought someone else was going to pay for it, huh?
I hope that all the folks pissed off about having to pay it voted AGAINST it.

I kind of like this concept. Here in Austin, in recent years it seems that almost all ballot measures are approved. I have found myself shaking my head thinking "where do you people think the money is going to come from to pay for this?" Perhaps it's because most taxes go in to a general "pool" so it takes a lot of research to find out exactly where your tax dollars are going. Or perhaps it's because people don't realize that even tho they don't own a home, they are still paying property taxes indirectly when they pay rent. Or perhaps people assume "someone in a higher tax bracket should pay my share."

I like the idea of a "You wanted this? OK, here's your bill for it" approach!

Yes, as a Portland resident, I recently received notification in the mail to pay it. I like it better, too, for its specificity, as opposed to the ever-increasing property tax for nebulous reasons. Of course, it's not practical to pay everything funded by the government piece-meal, but in Portlandia, I think most folk don't mind ponying up $35 for the arts.

[siggy_freud]

I'd actually prefer to see more taxes levied this way, rather than 'hiding' them in property taxes. Yes, they're approved and you know what you're approving, but I think getting a standalone bill like this would make people much more aware of what they're voting on and paying for.

I think it's a good cause, but I do think too many people mindlessly approve items without first thinking about the cost-benefit ratio.

[sblatner]

In California, we get to vote on all sorts of propositions because, as my dad says, our legislature is too chicken to make any decisions so they put everything on the ballot. I also wonder, when I'm reading through all the spending propositions, where is the money going to come from.

I like the idea of a $35 tax for the arts. At least I know what my money is being spent on.

[auron]

This makes me laugh. I also live in the Portland area and find it funny that the area values the "arts" so much but don't want to pay for furthering that idea.

In my horrible opinion, a lot of the complaints regarding taxes/fees in the area stem from poor unilateral decisions that voters said no to but are still proceeding (see Columbia River Crossing & Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail Projects). Granted this is assuming there's any real information used in forming their views.

[bjl584]

Too bad they don't implement a tax for something that matters. Like math, reading, history, or science.

Don't get me wrong, art is fun and all. I enjoyed art class in school. But, when I was a kid I was being creative all day long. Playing outside, drawing, coloring, you name it. I didn't need the taxpayers to help me with art or creativity. It came naturally.

I do find it quite amusing that hoards of people had no idea what they voted for though. That seems all too common with just about every issue on every election.